Great recipe from Cauldrons and Crockpots

Lemon-lavender polenta cake

200g soft unsalted butter

200g sugar

200g almond flour

100g fine corn flour (masa)

1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2  tsp salt

3 eggs

zest of 3 meyer lemons

For the drizzle:

juice of 3 lemons

125g sugar

2 tsp chopped fresh lavender (or 3 tsp dried lavender)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix together the flours, salt and baking powder. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, mixing thoroughly, then one egg. Repeat until all the flour and eggs are gone, then scrape the batter into a 9′ pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes. It might not look entirely set in the centre, but the edges will have started to pull away from the sides of the pan.

In a pan on the stovetop, bring the lemon juice, lavender and sugar gently to a boil. Remove from heat immediately. Prick tiny little holes over the top of the cake with the point of a sharp knife, and drizzle the syrup over the cake (strain it first if you don’t want lavender bits everywhere). Allow it to cool.

Lemon-lavender Polenta Cake is a post from: Food Magic

This carrot zucchini soup is a savory vegetable soup that both vegetarians and good ole meat eaters can enjoy.

2 small onions
2 cups water
1/2 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups zucchini, diced
1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons butter
1/2 cup tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Directions

Chop up one of the onions and set aside. Take the other onion and cut into quarters. Place this onion into a 3-quart saucepan. Add water, carrots, celery salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer soup for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are nice and tender.

Transfer soup mixture into a blender or food processor. Cover and process until pureed. Return mixture to pan.

In a large skillet, sauté zucchini and chopped onion in the oil and butter until they are tender. Add to the carrot mixture. Stir in tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender. Stir in milk and parsley. Heat thoroughly.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Carrot Zucchini Soup is a post from: Food Magic

Among low cholesterol recipes, soups that are low in fat happen to be very popular.Folks with high cholesterol love to have these soups as they are really tasty. These soup recipes provide a balanced and fat free food and could be of great assistance in dietary control for high cholesterol afflicted folks.

These soups to some extent also contribute to reduce level of LDL cholesterol. Some of these soups come under traditional recipes while some new soup recipes have also come on the block.

Lentil Soup

A very common of all soups among cholesterol patients is Lentil soup that could be easily prepared. Ingredients are tomatoes, onion, celery, carrot, curry powder and lentils. A balanced proportion of all these contents could be used to prepare this soup. These ingredients could be boiled together for ten minutes to be consumed. You may add chili pepper, chili powder or green chili as per your taste buds.

Cabbage Soup

Cabbage soup could also be given to cholesterol patients. This soup is prepared with cabbage, ginger, black pepper, onion, green chili, tomatoes and sherry. Its ingredients contribute to very little or negligible cholesterol content. The soup is free of saturated fat content.

Squash And Sweet Potato Soup 

The other soup suited to people with high cholesterol is made with squash and sweet potato. This soup, in combination with salads that are rich in fibers are often offered to cholesterol patients. This soup must be prepared in canola oil. One pound each of squash and sweet potato could be used to prepare soup for four people. Other ingredients of this soup are chives, onion, black pepper and ginger. The soup may include chicken broth.

Bean And Spinach Soup

A cholesterol afflicted person may enjoy a bean and spinach soup. Even in this soup you can use chicken broth. This soup could also serve the purpose of lowering LDL due to presence of beans. Other ingredients of soup are carrot, celery sticks, tomatoes and dried oregano. Rotini is also added to it. Doctors often recommend this recipe to obese folks who are likely to develop cholesterol problem.

Low Fat Turkey Soup

Low fat Turkey soup is another soup serving to people with high cholesterol. Ingredients of this soup are sodium chicken broth, pasta noodles, celery stalks, carrot and black pepper. All these contents are boiled together to prepare the soup.

Black Bean Soup And Toskana Soup

Black bean soup and Toskana soup also happen to be very low in fat content and could be offered to cholesterol patients.

All these soup recipes happen to be good to your taste buds as well. You can enjoy these for the twin purpose of dietary control and LDL cholesterol reduction.

Lowfat Soups is a post from: Food Magic

Sound crazy, or impossible?

Then keep reading to learn how you can come home from a crazy day and still put a tasty dinner on the table without stress or mess.

BLACK BEAN CHICKEN CHILI

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 large Rotisserie chicken, shredded and chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, minced fine

olive oil

2 tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. oregano

3 Tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

45 oz. black beans from a can (with liquid) – this is approximately 3 small cans of black beans or 1 large can and 1 small can

32 oz. Chili-ready tomatoes

½ jar spaghetti sauce (we like mushroom)

6 oz. tomato paste

Directions:

To prepare this hearty, award winning chicken chili, saute’ green pepper and onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add remaining seasonings and chicken, and mix until thoroughly combined. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 25 minutes.

Tricks and Tips:

We’ve made this chili the night before, and heated it up in the crockpot the next day for a party. For parties, we’ll do one pot of black bean chicken chili and one pot of white chicken chili.

This chili freezes very well.

Serve with sour cream, cheddar cheese and cornbread (or French bread or sourdough) for a complete meal.

Black Bean Chicken Chili is a post from: Food Magic

SAUERKRAUT SALAD

From: Rodale’s Naturally Great Foods Cookbook by Nancy Albright

1 1-lb. can sauerkraut, chilled (fresh, non-pasteurized sauerkraut is best)

1 cup grated carrots                                                  1 medium-sized onion, chopped

2 medium-sized apples, chopped                                  6 large ripe olives, pitted and sliced

2 Tbsp vinegar                                                         1 Tbsp horseradish

3 Tbsp oil                                                                crisp lettuce greens

Toss ingredients together with two forks until well mixed. Chill. Serve on crisp greens.

STIR-FRIED NAPA CABBAGE AND SAUERKRAUT

From: Hans Röckenwagner of Röckenwagner Restaurant, Los Angeles, CA

2 Tbsp sesame seeds                                                         1 Tbsp peanut oil

2 tsp blended sesame oil                                             medium red bell pepper,

1 cup very tightly packed and well drained sauerkraut        seeded and sliced, divided

4 cups tightly packed chopped or shredded napa cabbage

Heat a large skillet or wok. Add sesame seeds, tossing until they begin to pop and turn golden brown. Remove at once and set aside. Heat peanut oil and sesame oil in the skillet or wok; add half of the red pepper slices and the sauerkraut. Stir-fry on medium heat until sauerkraut begins to brown. Add cabbage and stir until it begins to wilt. Add sesame seeds and stir-fry gently. Turn off heat. Garnish with remaining red pepper slices and serve.

Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut is a post from: Food Magic

A glance at the menues of Thai restaurants in western countries suggests that there is almost no place for vegetarian food in Thai cuisine. However, this is not the truth. Most Thai dishes consist of rice with vegetables, meat and sauce on top. Meat and fish or sea food are viewed as just one portion of a meal and not as the primary ingredient of the meal. Much of the flavour of Thai food comes from the sauces and vegetables, so you can frequently substitute bean curd or other ingredients that you do eat for the specified meat.

Below, you will find a vegetarian meal from Central Thailand.

Vegetarian Thai Stew Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
2 carrots
2 onions
3 cakes of tofu (bean curd)
250 grams of ricestraw mushrooms
15-20 small cherry tomatoes
150 grams of green beans
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
3 cups of vegetable stock
2 tbsp of arrowroot starch salt and pepper vegetable oil

Wash and cut the tomatoes into pieces and then fry them in the oil. Cut the carrots into 1-inch pieces and the onions into quarters. Wash the mushrooms and cut them into halves. Cut the tofu into flat pieces, about 1/2-inch thick. Marinate the tofu in dark soy sauce for about 20 minutes. Fry the marinated tofu until it’s brown and firm. Add the vegetables, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix the starch with water and add it to the stew. Boil the stew for a few seconds and serve it in a warm bowl.

Tony Ailton has volunteered in many Thai restaurants ranging from simple food stalls to luxury restaurants all over Thailand. He has collected more than 500 recipes, mostly vegetarian dishes. He is going to publish his recipes on his website for vegetarian Thai food.

Vegetarian Thai Stew is a post from: Food Magic

In a small bowl, toss the tomatoes, garlic, 1T olive oil, nettle and basil together.
Chill 1-2 hours to allow the flavors to blend.
Slice the baguette into 1/2 inch slices, brush with olive oil and bake at 300 until lightly toasted.
Spoon 2T mixture over each slice.
Top with salt, grated parmesan cheese and serve.

Nettle Bruschetta is a post from: Food Magic

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 16oz. can pears
• 1 16oz. can peach halves
• 1 16oz. can pineapple chunks
• 3 bananas, sliced
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. ginger powdered

Instructions

Start by draining the juice from a 16 ounce can of pears, peach halves and pineapple chunks. Then combine the fruit in a large casserole dish. Add the sliced bananas.

Melt 1/3 cup butter with 3/4 cup of brown sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat. And then add two teaspoons of curry powder and one teaspoon of ginger powder.

After you have mixed this all together and made a nice hot syrup, pour it over the fruit and cover the dish and bake it for one hour at 325 degrees F.

Curried Fruit is a post from: Food Magic

Herb Energetics

We’re proud to help unveil the… NEW… Herb Energetics

It’s a recently updated video course with Kiva Rose using herbs and home remedies.

This course will again be available for a limited time and the only way to find out about it is here….

HerbEnergetics.com and did we mention… they are giving away…

Module 1: The Sensory Language of Life:
An Introduction to Herbal and Human Energetics

All you have to do is enter your email address!

After you sign up, they’ll send you more announcements and YOU get the 1st Module FREE!

Herb Energetics Course

Kiva Rose is an herbalist in the Anima Medicine Woman Tradition. She teaches and practices down to earth herbalism, nutrition and healing based on the same principles our ancestors followed within an adaptive and contemporary context.

Kiva is the author of the forthcoming The Medicine Woman’s Herbal, an in depth guide to common nourishing herbs, traditional and wild foods, and healing the Medicine Woman way. She makes her home in the Mogollon Mountains of the Gila bioregion of New Mexico, where she and her partners, Wolf and Loba, live in a small off the grid cabin at the Anima Botanical and Women’s Sanctuary.

HerbEnergetics.com

Herb Energetics is a post from: Food Magic

This is a before, during and after video of my veggie garden. Happy gardening everyone! Yay!

Veggie Garden is a post from: Food Magic